The Badger Herald

OPINION & EDITORIAL

A Semester Gone By

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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:

A security fee-for-all (December 11, 2007)
Farewell, Chancellor (December 10, 2007)
$$FC (December 6, 2007)
In a bind (December 5, 2007)
Entitlement Town (December 4, 2007)

by Badger Herald Editorial Board

Thursday, May 5, 2005

Semester’s close may mean the end of campus media delivering information pertinent to students, but also leaves a laundry list of issues still impacting student lives. This spring is no different, and the issues are pressing.

Tuition is all but certain to increase once again at the completion of this year’s biennial budget cycle. Students should brace for further hikes, amount to be determined later. We once again urge the Legislature to be wary of continuing to gouge tuition-payers pocketbooks, but are mindful of the fact that, for Wisconsin residents at least, the school remains a good deal. Despite the bleak fiscal situation, we commend the state Senate for yesterday unanimously adopting SB 121, which would add another student member to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents. Students can feel the pinch from the other end of State Street in everything from class offerings to library hours. The quality of a UW education and the value of a UW degree are the ultimate victims of this fiscal neglect.

On the subject of library hours, the Associated Students of Madison should take heed. The successful lobbying campaign two years ago to keep College Library open around the clock is the kind of issue upon which student government should continue to focus. Despite almost all indications to the contrary, we hold out hope for ASM and ask them to see their role through the eye of the common student and his or her pocketbook. Recent lobbying efforts at moving the Mifflin Street Block Party were a commendable example of student government taking initiative on behalf of student interests. But ASM must remain focused. Battle high-priced textbooks, not foreign policy.

The cooperation and relatively safe execution of the Mifflin party was another positive step in the interaction between students and the City of Madison. If only we could find the right recipe for Halloween. Students should be involved in the process of planning next year’s party early and often, instructing the legions of out of town guests you are hosting to behave themselves and take care of our city. Police records show Madison students aren’t the ones wreaking most of the havoc. If the party can’t get under control this year, it appears more and more a tradition the city will forfeit. Indeed, Madison culture may soon be in short supply, taking another hit before we resume publication: the right to a smoke with your beer in a Madison bar. For what it’s worth, we urge our readers to take this “law” as they see fit. A little rebellion now and then never hurt anything but your lungs.

Yet, as antidote to all the nay-saying this board undertakes each week of publication, we always feel the urge to note UW remains a fantastic place to live and study. By any standard — be it national rankings and research grants, game day atmosphere and social scene or teaching quality and academic freedom — Madison remains a healthy university community. As a majority of this board moves on from our undergraduate education, we sincerely urge you to do your part in keeping it that way, and thank you for reading.

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Anonymous (May 5, 2005 @ 8:00am):

Awww..... Bye, everybody.

Anonymous (May 5, 2005 @ 1:46pm):

We will as a ASM council and committees focus on issues pertinent to campus. Hopefully FUSE members will agree with the Badger Herald Board and fight for issues relevant to campus. The issues we can make a difference on.

Anonymous (May 6, 2005 @ 12:16pm):

Eric Varney's first post! Welcome, son. And, if you haven't noticed, the BHEB is WAY out of synch with average students on most issues, so please don't take your marching orders from here.

Anonymous (June 17, 2005 @ 12:29am):

PICKETERS NEEDED!!!

URGENT!!!

TERRORISTS PLAN TO MEET ON OUR CAMPUS NEXT WEEK!!!

SEE http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1100

Draft Agenda

Friday, June 24
Grainger Hall of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin
975 University Avenue

7:00-8:30PM Beyond Chutzpah: The Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History

Dr. Norman Finkelstein, Professor of Political Theory at DePaul University, and author of Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, will present a keynote address that is free and open to the public.

Saturday, June 25
Grainger Hall of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin
975 University Avenue

8:30-9:30AM Registration and breakfast

9:30-10:15AM Welcome/Ice-Breakers and About the US Campaign

Members of the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project will welcome conference participants to Madison and review conference logistics with attendees. Kymberlie Quong Charles, US Campaign Membership Outreach Coordinator, will introduce the US Campaign, its goals, membership criteria, organizing strategy, taskforces, days of action, etc.

10:30AM-12:00PM Skills-Building Workshop Session #1

Workshops will be practical, hands-on, skills-building sessions that will increase the effectiveness of conference attendees' activism. Conference attendees will choose three out of four workshops. For the media and grassroots advocacy workshops, conference attendees will be encouraged to plug into national taskforces facilitated by the US Campaign. Scheduled workshop facilitators are:

Divestment: Mohammed Abed, al-Awda Wisconsin, Mark Evenson & Nancy Turner, Faculty, UW-Platteville, and The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals
Sister City Projects: Jennifer Loewenstein, George Arida, Jim Goronson, Kathy Walsh, Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
Grassroots Advocacy: Josh Ruebner, US Campaign Legislative Task Force
Media: Rima Mutreja, Palestine Media Watch/US Campaign Media Task Force

12:00PM-1:30PM Lunch & informal caucuses/affinity groups

NOTE: Lunch is not being provided at the conference. Conference attendees will be directed to low-cost food options near campus.

Conference attendees will organize themselves into informal caucuses/affinity groups in order to network and strategize by common interest. Examples could be by religious, ethnic, racial, professional, or geographic identity.

1:30PM-3:00PM Skills-Building Workshop Session #2

3:00PM-3:30PM Break

3:30PM-5:00PM Skills-Building Workshop Session #3

5:00PM-5:30PM Conclusions & Evaluations

Conference organizers will facilitate a discussion on lessons learned from the conference and encourage people and groups to plug into the work of the US Campaign. Conference attendees who are willing to circulate their contact information can do so and will be encouraged to fill out conference evaluation forms before leaving.

The Crossing, 1127 University Ave.

5:30PM-7:30PM Social Hour/Dinner

The conference will move across campus to The Crossing, a campus religious center, for a social hour and Middle Eastern dinner. Both conference attendees and the general public are invited to the dinner, which will cost $10.

7:30PM-9:00PM Rebuilding Homes, Rebuilding Hopes in Gaza

Cindy and Craig Corrie, the parents of Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist who was killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, and Khaled and Samah Nasrallah, family members who lived in the house that Rachel tried to prevent from being demolished when she was killed, will present the story that links their families together. The panelists will be introduced by Joe Carr, a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams, who will also peform a spoken word tribute to Rachel Corrie. The panelists will speak about their involvement with the Rebuilding Homes Alliance and there will be a fundraiser for the US Campaign and the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project. The event is free and open to the public.

Sunday, June 26
The Crossing, 1127 University Ave.

9:00AM-9:30 AM Breakfast

9:30-12:00PM Strategizing Session

Conference attendees will group themselves by geography (local, regional, state-wide) in order to strategize and develop a plan of action for their area in an informal setting. Strategizing sessions will be facilitated by conference organizers to encourage the formation of new groups where none exist, to strengthen existing groups, and to create local, regional, and state-wide coalitions that are plugged into the work and organizing strategy of the US Campaign.